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Sunday 23 June 2019

"Who's Rules Do You Follow"





Four words to consider this morning:  Ritual, Tradition, Doctrine, and Dogma what do they mean to you. 

June 23, 2019   Galatians 3:23–29   Psalm 133
First, some background about the Galatian Churches.  Paul had a hand in establishing the churches in Galatia, so he writes to them concerned about problems that exist there.  Most all of the early churches were made up of different ethnic groups who committed to following Jesus along with many Jewish converts.  The thrust of Paul message to them was a gospel message of justification by faith in Christ Jesus.   What did that mean, it meant that they were justified, or made right, forgiven, by faith in Christ Jesus, which would lead to live a life based on the way Jesus lived: ethical, moral, sacrificial and it is the same for us today. 

All they needed was faith to enter into this new life with Jesus.  Paul new that salvation would not come by following Jewish law but by the grace of God and a transformed life brought about by following Jesus.  However, some of the early leadership was holding on to this old idea and continued to teach it.  They taught that in order to become a person of The Way {or as we would say today to become a Christian,} you first had to become a Jew; abiding by all the requirements of the Jewish rituals and Law, all 613 of them which included circumcision.  Paul was adamant and disagreed with this sort of teaching. 
So I ask you:  what about the church of today:  in your opinion Is there anything in our traditions, our rituals, doctrine or dogma that needs to re-visited and possibly changed.
A Churches traditions, rituals, doctrine or dogma have never saved anyone, Pauls message was and still is:   Christ is the saving grace who makes you a new creation and Jesus is the only one who can do that.  Does this prayer sound familiar?   May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, now and evermore.  I say a form of it at the beginning of most worship services.  It is called “The Grace Prayer”.

Why then should we be paying so much attention to a bunch of rules and traditions which don't accomplish anything significant in my personal relationship with Jesus and often do not reflect the hope, peace, joy and love of Jesus?   In fact rules and traditions often divide people and promote politics within the church, which by the way, help to keep folks from living a life that exemplifies Jesus.    It's within the context of spiritual freedom vs. the 613 Jewish Laws, that Paul writes his letter.   

That was Paul's message to the churches in Galatia some 1900 years ago.  What does it have to do with us today?  May I suggest that we can identify with some of the things happening in Galatian church.  Not all Christians view things the same and many refuse to accept the politics that seem to be running many of our churches today.  Many are now operating as though we are a corporation not a church.   Meetings imitate a form of Roberts Rules of Order, many individual churches are often held hostage to some form of academia.  Especially when it comes to fellowship around communion, baptism, or who can lead the flock.   Theological credentials or a degree in theology have become the order of today but even then, we often have many views and disagreements as to what label is the right label to belong to, as we search for who really has the truth?    

A common "Point of Identification." with the early church would be found in the sacrament of Baptism.  Although there is one Christian fellowship that does not perform baptism for its members, any guesses. { A research question for you}  We as did the early church experience baptism as a form of re-birth. Meaning we have a sense of "Before baptism and After."  The difference for the early church was their “before” was related to living under those 613 rules of Jewish law.  Their “after” was freedom from the law to live a life that reflected the life and teaching of Jesus The Christ.   Our “before” is living according to how we see it, by making up our own personal set of rules as we go.  It is often an unwritten law taught by the modern world and hidden in this statement:   “I am the most important thing in my life and my needs comes first.  No, No we were never like that!!  but we knew lots of people who were, right!   The “after” for us is often thought of as the answer to this question: Are you saved;  but an answer in words will make no sense if the fruit of their vine has not changed and is visible.  The true after for us today is a new life a life in Him.   Now... freedom in the Spirit Not free to do whatever you want, but Free to live for God; free to love your neighbour as yourself; free to bear anothers burdens; free to be helpful and do good to all people;  Free to set aside protocol and tradition when love calls you out to focus on Christ-like behaviour.  Loving our neighbour and foe, when everything we are told by the world around us, indicates otherwise.  Free to give, when society says hoard.  Free to inconvenience yourself for the sake of someone else.

No longer... Like the well-known passage about Jew & Greek, Slave and free.  Our distinctions and differences are important but we no longer focus on them because our focus is on unity, meaning one together in Christ.  Maybe for us that verse should read, "No longer... Rich and poor?  The in crowd verses the out cast?  the Laity verses Clergy?   Young verses old,   Male verses female?  We are now one in Christ.  Now we are equals and more.  The old distinctions are still there, but they don't matter.  We don't dwell on them and get caught up by them.  It's not "who's  who" that matters, but “who’s you are”.    Now we can deal with each other on a new level, as "One in Christ."  That implies, respect, listening, honesty, trust, and real equality, the inclusiveness of Jesus.  The old has gone, everything is made new.   Paul gives us a warning:   Don't go back to the old ways!!  “Repent is the biblical word.  ”The old way doesn’t work!  Don't spend all your energy trying to justify yourself and live up to society's requirements.  Instead, get a grip on faith & grace.  Cling to Christ.  Live in the Spirit.  Love freely.   Let us pray

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